My opinion

Uh … if there was such a thing as a D category for movies, then this one deserved it. This was a storyline where boredom hits fast, with incredible events and a predictable ending that sucks.The negative things first.
First, I think that the background of the eight contenders could be explained somewhat better. Ultimately, we only know that there is an ex-alcoholic, a gambler, a crippled woman, a goth whose child was drowned by her ex-husband (I assume), a veteran and the leading actress Iris (Brittany Snow) is someone with a seriously ill brother. That the latter plays along to save her brother’s life, we know. It’s a missed opportunity to explain a bit gradually about the others and their motivations to participate.

Second, the circumstances in which the victims die sometimes, is a bit exaggerated. A stitch in your leg with an ice pick, won’t let you die in a few minutes. Besides Iris also got one in her side (it just missed her lungs) and it has no effect. What a miracle. A few minutes later she’s already running around as if nothing happened. A few strokes of a stick can be painful, but not life-threatening. No excessive blood loss. And wouldn’t a soldier be tough enough to endure that ?A firecracker explodes with a few missing fingers as a result … duh. A heart attack could be possible anyway, but still.

Thirdly. Why would the doctor (clearly a winner of the previous years) go there on his own. He should have known this was doomed to fail !!!!

Fourth, what an immense bad color choice was this movie. This looked just like a 80’s Technicolor film.

Positive part was the acting of Jeffrey Combs as the sadistic Lambrick (diabolical smiles) and Jonny Coyne as the butler ergo bouncer / cleanup helper. The son of Lambrick can be nominated for an Oscar as “Best useless Supporting Actor” or “Worst acting performance.” He’s probably a friend of the son of the director.

And the end was so predictable. I was just thinking, “It would really suck for Iris when her brother Bob dies in the operation.” And when it ends … yes … pitty!They had everything : the idea of organizing a game between life and death, the choices and dilemmas, the candidates and their fucked up past, the sadistic element …. But apparently there wasn’t the potential, the skills or the money to make it work.

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About Me

I’m Peter.
Born in 1966.
And living in Belgium.
I’ve been married to Veronika for 10 years already.
And together we have two lovely kids , Karolien and Filip.
And guess what ….. I’m a big movie-fan. Who could have guessed that!
As long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by the medium film. And the number of movies I’ve seen till now, is even unknown to me.